The Cabinet

The Cabinet is made up of the senior members of government. Every week during Parliament, members of the Cabinet (Secretaries of State from all departments and some other ministers) meet to discuss the most important issues for the government.

Acts of Parliament

Access to information

Freedom of information

The Freedom of Information Act gives you the right to ask any
public sector organisation for all the recorded information it has
on any subject. Anyone can make a request for information –
known as a Freedom of Information (or FOI) request. There are no
restrictions on your age, nationality or where you live.

Statistics

Government produces Official Statistics about most areas of
public life. Statistics are used by people inside and outside
government to make informed decisions and to measure the success of
government policies and services. Find
out about the legislation that governs the publication of UK
national and Official Statistics.

Transparency

The government publishes information about how government works to allow you to make politicians, public services and public organisations more accountable. We are committed to publishing information about:

Data

Putting data in people’s hands can help them have more of a say in the reform of public services. On data.gov.uk you can easily find, review and use information about our country and communities - for example, to develop web applications.

Devolved government

In Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland, devolved administrations are responsible for many domestic policy issues, and their Parliaments/Assemblies have law-making powers for those areas.

Local government

Councils make and carry out decisions on local services. Many parts of England have 2 tiers of local government: county councils and district, borough or city councils.

In some parts of the country, there’s just one tier of local government providing all the functions, known as a ‘unitary authority’. This can be a city, borough or county council – or it may just be called ‘council’. As well as these, many areas also have parish or town councils.